Following complaints over the number of unwelcome videos appearing in recommendations, the Google-owned site says it plans to try and banish them.

It says 'borderline' videos that come close to violating community guidelines or those which 'misinform users in a harmful way.' will now be excluded.

Google claims the move will target 'phony miracle cure for a serious illness, claiming the earth is flat, or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11.'

'We’ll begin reducing recommendations of borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways—such as videos promoting a phony miracle cure for a serious illness, claiming the earth is flat, or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11.'

YouTube says the decision affects less than 1 percent of videos - but this will still impact millions of clips.

'We think this change strikes a balance between maintaining a platform for free speech and living up to our responsibility to users,' YouTube said.

However, it will not ban the videos.

'To be clear, this will only affect recommendations of what videos to watch, not whether a video is available on YouTube.'